Brassiere



N. BLUM Dec. 23, 1941.

Filed July 1'7, 1940 lNVENTOR AfiORN if r m- Patented Dec. 23,1941

omen s'rA'rss .m m OFFICE Nettie amr oeeansiueln. r. Application July'l i, 194, N- 345386 I V Claims. (CL 2-42) This invention relates to what are commonly referred to as brassieres, and particularly to devices of this kind constructed in a manner tosupport the breasts in youthful form; *and the object of the invention is to provide a brassiere of the character described, each breast supporting portion of which comprisesa supporting or bracing banddisposed upon the lower portion or the breast-and extending upwardly along the sides of the breast in a manner to support the upper portion of the breast in an exposed manner, and

still i'urther in providing onthe upper edge of the breast supporting band a flap or segment ar-; ranged from the central nipple portion, of the v illustrating the partssubstantially in a position I r V for'use.

.5; Fig; 3 is a front view or one of the breast supporting members or the brassiere.

' Fig.4 isa view similar to 'Ii lg'. 2 showing modified-adaptation of theinvention, and

garments of thistype 'and-kind,.it has been the breast substantially to the outer sides thereof mmon pra ti to mploy what are c mm nly and covering a portion of the top of the breast adjacent the nipple in retaining the breasts against displacement from said bands; a further object being to provide a brassiere of the character described wherein each band comprises a substantially straight upper edge, a curved lower band with an upper supportin stra extend g 9 mg 2 breasts. in overcoming these objectionable teafrom the corner portions of the upper edge of the band and of sumcient length to encircle the upper portion of the base of the breast to'form means engaging shoulder straps for supporting the brassiere upon the body of the wearer; a further object being to provide a body encircling strap attached to the outer edge of each band where the lower edge joins said outer edge, said strap supporting the rear ends of the shoulder ject being to provide breast supporting bands of relatively firm material 0 of reinforced material in maintaining and s porting the breasts in youthful position: and with these and other objects in view, the invention consists in a garment of the class and for the purpose specified, which is simple in construction, efilcientin use, and

which is constructed as hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is fully disclosed in theiollowing specification, of which the accompanying-drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts or my improvement are designated byreference characters in each of the views, and in which: Fig. l is a perspective front view of a brassire referred to as breast supporting pockets: that is to say, members which would completely receive" and cover the entire breast or at least the major portion thereof. Ma'ny efforts have been made in constructing such breast pockets to maintain youthful form of thebreasts. However, in most instances, the structure in attempting to correct one defect, namely that of'raising the breasts, is counteracted by a tendency to depress the tures, I have constructed a brassire wherein the conventional pocket structure has been eliminated and supplemented by the use of what may be termed bands which engage the lower portion of. the breasts as well as the sides thereof at a j point above the central portion of the breast so as to form of the bands what may be termed supporting or bracing members which raise the breasts and support them in youthful position.

By supporting the upper comer portions oi the band in loop-shaped straps which encircle the breasts at the base thereof and are attached to the shoulder straps of the brassiere, .the breasts are supported with the major part of the tenor -40 the breasts exposed To maintain the breasts infirm position and against displacement, I also employ centrally of the upper edge of the bands and extending well to the outer sides thereof, flanged portions engagingthe nipples of the breasts and arranged over a. part of the top of the breasts. Further,

by constructingthe bands of a relatively rigid and firm material or by reinforcing a flexiblematerial through the medium oi stays, these- M bands will formwhat might be termed supporting shields-or platesywhich firmly and yet comfortably. support the breasts inraised' or youth in] position. i

. jlntheaccompany ingdrawinm lihaveshown a: for the purposeoi illustration twcoi the many F 8, 2 is a partial section on thedine ix-ii oi,

adaptations of this invention; Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive showing one form of construction, and- 4 illustrating a modified form of structure.

In Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the brasiire generally is indicated at III and comprises two substantially loops II, Ila to which are fixedly or slidably attached the forward ends of shoulder straps I5, lid. The rear ends of the straps I5, I51: are attached to body encircling straps I, lid, and the forward ends are attached to comer portions II material in itself is not sufficient to accomplish I this result.

is a

of each of the bands Ila. The rear ends are detachably coupled by suitable couplings 18. These rear ends may also include elastics I! to provide yieldable mounting of the straps I6, I81: upon the body of the wearer.

To the upper edge 2|! of the bands II, Ila is attached a flange, segment, or flap 2|, which is disposed primarily to the, outer sides of the bands II, but includes a central shirred portion 22 to receive the nipple of the breast, with a short section 23 extending to the central portion of the band, but short of the end thereof. As will be seen from a consideration of Fig. 2, the segment or flap 2| protrudes forwardly of the band clusive, the bands II, Ha may be composed of any suitable type of fabric, lace or combination of lace and fabric of the freely flexible type and kind, in which event, a plurality of stays 24 are arranged vertically in the central portion of the bands to provide firm supports directly beneath the central portion of the breasts. It is also preferred that the lower ends 24a of these stays curve outwardly so that the lower edge 25 of the bands II, Ila, will fold to a slight degree to rest flatly upon the body of the wearer around the breasts, as is partially indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

* At 2Ia are shown flanges or other members similar to the members 2| in Figs 1 to 3 inclusive, which will be composed of fabrics, nettings, lace, or the like. The structure of Fig. 4 will otherwise be the same as the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive insofar as the use of the various straps and couplings is concerned.

In both forms of construction, the band members are formed from blanks such as illustrated at 28 in Fig. 5 of the drawing. These blanks are shaped to form relatively straight upper edges 29, curved inner and lower edges 30, and a substantially straight outer edge 3| arranged atan angle less than 90 to the edge 29. The outer edge 3| joins the curved edge 39 in a corner portion 32 to which straps 33 similar to the straps I6, |6a are attached. At 34 is shown the attachment of the straps loops similar to the loops Il, Ila to the upper corner portions of the bands. At 35 is shown the strap similar to the strap I2,

and at 36, three elastic straps similar .to the straps I3.

The illustration in Fig. 5 of the drawing is to show the approximate angular arrangement of the different straps with respect to the odd shaped contour of the band blanks 28 employed.

In Fig. 4 of the drawing is shown a slight modification which consists in the use of a rubber or other composition sheet material 26 in forming each of the bands and in using an inner facing 26a of any suitable soft materials. The sheet 29 including the facing 26a will have perforations 21 of any desired arrangement thereon and of any suitable contour'to provide ventilation and further to reduce the weight of the material employed in said bands.

In some instances, the bands 26 may be com posed of a semi-rigid but readily flexible material such as sheet rubber, but this material may be of various synthetic materials including acetates and the like having sufllcient flexibility to assume the arc-shaped form to fit the breasts of the wearer, while at the same time having suflicienttransverse rigidity to support the stays or other reinforcements. In other instances, the structure of the bands may be so devised as to give the required rigidity if the breasts in raised position without the use of It will be understood, however, that when the brassiere is in use, the comer portions of the bands to which the straps equivalent to the straps I4, Ila are attached, extend upwardly to the sides of each breast to a point above the central portion of the breast, as is indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The straps loops I4, Ila extend around the upper portion of the breast at the base thereof, thus the base of the breast will be completely encircled by the edges 30, 3| in combination with the straps loops 34 as will be apparent.

It will also be apparent that the upper edge 29 of the band devices, or in other words, the edge 20 asseen in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, is disposed below the nipple of the breast but in close proximity thereto, whereas the flange or flap members 2| extend over the nipple and upon part of the upper portion of the breast, firmly supporting the same within the curved band. The band members of the brassire when arranged upon the. breasts assume what might be termed arc-shaped supporting members, and these members may be composed in themselves of rigid materials, capable of the bending or flexure to conform with the breasts while maintaining the vertical rigidity to support the breasts in raised position, or the materials may be of the flexible type, reinforced by stays or other bracing members. These supporting bands or other members form upon the body of the wearer what might be termed open pockets in which the breasts seat or rest comfortably while being supported in raised youthful position. It will also be apparent that in referring to brassieres, that it is intended that my invention relates to brassire structures as applied to garments of this type and kind per se or as may be applied to garments including brassieres as a combination thereof.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is: I

1. A garment of the class described comprising two substantially similar breast receiving and supporting members, each of said members comprising a band disposed on the lower portion and contour attached to the upper edge of the band,

said segment overlying the nipple and adjacent area of the breast leaving the major part of the upper portion of the breast exposed, means joining adjacent ends of said bands intermediate the breasts, loop-shaped straps joining the ends of each. band, means attached to the outer edges of the bands and detachably coupled at the back of-the wearer to retain the garment around the body, and shoulder straps coupled with said last named means and with said loop-shaped straps in supporting the brassiere upon the shoulders oi the wearer, the upper edge of said segments being free of the loop-shaped straps.

2. A garment of the class described comprising two substantially similar breast receiving and supporting members, each of said members comprising a band disposed on the lower portion and sides only of the breast, a segment or concave contour attached to the upper edge of the band,"

said segment overlying the nipple and adjacent area of the breast leaving the major part of the upper portion of the breast exposed, means joining adjacent ends of said bands intermediate the breasts, loopshaped straps joining the ends of each band, means attached to the outer edges of the bands and detachably coupled at the back of the wearer to retain the garment around the body, shoulder straps coupled with said last named means and with said loop-shaped straps in supporting the brassiere upon the shoulders ofthewearer, the upper edge of said segments being ireeof the loop-shaped straps, and said bands having means imparting rigid characteristics to at least the central portions thereof to firmly support the breasts in raised position.

3. A garment of the class described comprising two substantially similar breast receiving and supporting members, each of said members comprising a band disposed on the lower portion and sides only of the breast, a segment 0! concave contour attached to the upper edge of the band. said segment overlying the nipple and adjacent area oi the breast leaving the major part of the upper portion of the breast exposed, means joining adjacent ends of said bands intermediate the breasts, loop-shaped straps joining the ends of each band, means attached to the outer edges of the bands and detachably coupled at the back of the wearer to retain the garment around the being free of the loop-shaped straps; said bands having means imparting rigid characteristics to at least the central portions thereof to firmly support the breasts in raised position, said means comprising stays arranged vertically inthe central portions of said bands, and the lower ends of said stays being offset outwardly tofit snugly upon the body of the wearer beneath the breasts.

4. A garment of the class described comprising two substantially similar breast receiving and supporting members. each of said members comprising a band disposed on the lower portion and sides only of the breast, a segment of concave contour attached to the upper edge of the band, said segment overlying the nipple and adjacent area of the breast leaving the major part of the upper portion of the breast exposed, means joining adjacent ends of said bands intermediate the breasts, loop-shaped straps joining the ends of each band, means attached to theouter edges of the bands and detachably coupled at the back of the wearer to retain the garment around the body, shoulder straps coupled with said last named means and with said loop-shaped straps contour attached to the upper edge of the band,

said segment overlying the nipple and adjacent area or the breast leaving the major parts of the upper portion of the breast exposed, means joining the adjacent ends of said bands, and means comprising back and shoulder straps attached to said members and independent and free of said segments for supporting said members upon the body 01 the wearer in the support of the breasts by said members and segments.

nn'rrm BLUM. 

